Recreational or sports fishing is a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide and in many countries represents an important social and cultural activity. In some regions, it also contributes significant income to tourism and tackle businesses. In addition to its importance from a social and economic standpoint, the impact of recreational fishing on the environment and on food webs can often be substantial. This important book represents the major output from the 4th World Recreational Fishing Conference held in Norway in June 2005. The conference focused on several topics and targeted all stakeholders in the recreational fishing sector, including researchers, managers, NGO representatives and businesses. This book reflects that diversity, encompassing a variety of approaches within its carefully selected and fully peer-reviewed chapters. Global Challenges in Recreational Fisheries is an essential purchase for fisheries managers, multidisciplinary fisheries scientists, marine and freshwater biologists, ecologists and environmental scientists. The book is highly relevant for graduate university courses in fisheries management and fisheries sciences. Libraries in all universities, government fish and wildlife agencies and research establishments where these subjects are studied and taught will need copies of this important publication.

Recreational or sport fishing is important for three major reasons: economic (it is a multi-billion dollar world industry); social (it is embedded in the cultures of many nations; ecological (it affects the environment and food webs in many ways). Recreational Fisheries covers a range of methods, case studies and perspectives on the multidisciplinary evaluation of the benefits and costs of sports fisheries. Tony Pitcher and Charles Hollingworth, the editors of this landmark publication, have drawn together chapters from more than 30 contributors from North America, Europe, Australia and South Africa, providing a truly international perspective on a global industry. Contents include detailed assessments, evaluations and survey mthods of sport fisheries in many countries. This book is an essential reference for anyone active in the management, assessment, policy making or development of sport and recreational fisheries worldwide. All fisheries scientists and managers will require a copy of this important publication. Environmental and aquatic scientists, ecologists and oceanographers will also find this book of great value in their work. Libraries in research establishments, laboratories and universities where fisheries and biological sciences are studied and taught should have multiple copies of this book. Covers a worldwide industry of great commercial importance. Internationally known editors and contributors from four continents. Uses case studies from around the globe to illustrate the subject. A core subject essential to fisheries scientists.

The importance of recreational fisheries is increasing in many transitional economies. These guidelines focus on recreational fisheries and describe strategies to promote environmentally sustainable and socially responsible management of such fisheries. To this end, the document details policy, managerial and behavioural recommendations for sustainable recreational fisheries.

Recreational hunting has long been a controversial issue. Is it a threat to biodiversity or can it be a tool for conservation, giving value to species and habitats that might otherwise be lost? Are the moral objections to hunting for pleasure well founded? Does recreational hunting support rural livelihoods in developing countries, or are these benefits exaggerated by proponents? For the first time, this book addresses many of the issues that are fundamental to an understanding of the real role of recreational hunting in conservation and rural development. It examines the key issues, asks the difficult questions, and seeks to present the answers to guide policy. Where the answers are not available, it highlights gaps in our knowledge and lays out the research agenda for the next decade.

Marine recreational fishing is a popular activity enjoyed by more than 9 million Americans annually and is a driver of the American ocean-or blue-economy. To ensure that fish populations are not overexploited, the NOAA Fisheries' Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) monitors recreational catch through a variety of in-person, telephone, mail-in, and other surveys. NOAA Fisheries' management of recreational catch also must take into account annual catch limits (ACLs) established to prevent overfishing for all managed species in federal waters. While MRIP has worked to improve recreational catch surveys over the past decade, the surveys were never designed to meet the demands of in-season management of ACLs. In some cases, estimates of harvest have triggered accountability measures such as early season closures and reductions in future recreational ACLs, which have been a source of contention with the recreational fishing community. This report presents approaches for optimizing MRIP data and complementary data for in-season management and considers alternatives for managing recreational fisheries with ACLs to better serve both social and economic management objectives.

Fluctuations and declines in marine fish populations have caused growing concern among marine scientists, fisheries managers, commercial and recreational fishers, and the public. Sustaining Marine Fisheries explores the nature of marine ecosystems and the complex interacting factors that shape their productivity. The book documents the condition of marine fisheries today, highlighting species and geographic areas that are under particular stress. Challenges to achieving sustainability are discussed, and shortcomings of existing fisheries management and regulation are examined. The volume calls for fisheries management to adopt a broader ecosystem perspective that encompasses all relevant environmental and human influences. Sustaining Marine Fisheries offers new approaches to building workable fisheries management institutions, improving scientific data, and developing management tools. The book recommends ways to change current practices that encourage overexploitation of fish resources. It will be of special interest to marine policymakers and ecologists, fisheries regulators and managers, fisheries scientists and marine ecologists, fishers, and concerned individuals.

This report updates previous studies that measured in economic terms the extent of biological losses attributable to overfishing globally. The new estimates assess these 'sunken billions' at $83 billion annually. The report further shows that a clear path can lead to the recovery of these considerable losses, including through significant reduction in global fishing overcapacity. A breakdown between regions is also included, showing that the effort needed to achieve this reform will not be felt equally throughout the world. While the cost of such reform will likely be high, the expected benefits include an increase in biomass by a factor of 2.7, increase in annual harvests by 13 percent, and a 30-fold increase in annual net benefits accrued to the fisheries sector (from $3 billion to $86 billion annually). This urgent call for action is reinforced by the impacts of climate change on fish stocks and fisheries worldwide.

Anders Halverson provides an exhaustively researched and grippingly rendered account of the rainbow trout and why it has become the most commonly stocked and controversial freshwater fish in the United States. Discovered in the remote waters of northern California, rainbow trout have been artificially propagated and distributed for more than 130 years by government officials eager to present Americans with an opportunity to get back to nature by going fishing. Proudly dubbed an entirely synthetic fish by fisheries managers, the rainbow trout has been introduced into every state and province in the United States and Canada and to every continent except Antarctica, often with devastating effects on the native fauna. Halverson examines the paradoxes and reveals a range of characters, from nineteenth-century boosters who believed rainbows could be the saviors of democracy to twenty-first-century biologists who now seek to eradicate them from waters around the globe. Ultimately, the story of the rainbow trout is the story of our relationship with the natural world--how it has changed and how it startlingly has not.

Fisheries experts increasingly acknowledge the importance of globalization on local, national, and international fisheries. This book brings together fisheries and governance experts from across the globe who present case studies on a broad spectrum of the internationally shared fisheries that inhabit diverse freshwater and marine ecosystem types. Case studies provide the biological background of the fisheries resource, including status and threats to the resource and its ecosystem. The case studies review the evolution and current governance institutions of the fisheries resource, with particular focus on international or global institutions. Each study concludes with an evaluation of the effectiveness of the current fisheries governance institutions, and recommendations for change.